Dear Monument Australia visitors, we are a self-funded, non-profit organisation, dedicated to recording monuments throughout Australia. Over time the costs of maintaining this website have risen substantially (in fact they are probably larger than those of many companies who exist for profit). In the past we have borne all the costs associated with maintaining the website but we are now having difficulties in paying the monthly expenses.

If Monument Australia is useful to you, please make a donation to keep this historical and educational resource available. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

The plaque commemorates those who served with the 26th Infantry Battalion during World War Two. It is located under a tree near the State War Memorial.

The 26th Battalion was an infantry battalion originally raised in April 1915 for service in World War One as part of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). It was assigned to the 7th Brigade and consisted of personnel recruited from the states of Queensland and Tasmania. The battalion fought at Gallipoli in the latter stages of that campaign before being withdrawn to Egypt in late 1915. In mid-1916, it was sent to Europe where it served in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Belgium for the rest of the war, fighting in most of the battles that the Australians took part in between 1916 and 1918. At the end of the war it was disbanded in May 1919.

During the inter-war years, the 26th Battalion was re-raised as a part-time unit of the Citizens Forces, known as the 26th Battalion (Logan and Albert Regiment), based in Queensland. In 1934, the 26th was merged with another Queensland-based infantry battalion, the 15th Battalion, to become the 15th / 26th Battalion. The two units were subsequently delinked in 1939 when the new 26th Australian Infantry Battalion was raised in Queensland as Australia mobilised for war.

The battalion was assigned to the 11th Brigade at this time and used in various garrison roles in the early part of World War Two before a detachment was sent to the Dutch East Indies as part of Merauke Force in 1943. Later in the war, the entire 26th Battalion, along with the rest of the 11th Brigade, was committed to the Bougainville campaign where they saw action against the Japanese from late 1944 until the end of hostilities in August 1945.

After the war, the 26th Battalion was used to guard Japanese prisoners on Rabaul, remaining there until March 1946, before returning to Australia for demobilisation. It was subsequently disbanded in August 1946.

Location

Details

Monument Type:

Plaque

Monument Theme:

Conflict

Sub-Theme:

WW2

Actual Event STart Date:

03-September-1939

Actual Event End Date:

15-August-1945

Dedication

Front Inscription

This Plaque Is Dedicated
To The Gallant Men Of 26 Aust. Inf. Bn. (AIF)
Who Under Inspired Leadership
Served With Distinction In Dutch New Guinea,
Torres Strait, Bougainville And Rabaul 1939 - 46
And To Members Who Made The Supreme Sacrifice
LEST WE FORGET